American Scene

SPOKANE — A body found just north of Spokane is that of a fugitive being sought in the killings of a woman and her two young sons.

Police found the body of Dustin W. Gilman, 22, on Monday morning in the Wandermere area north of Spokane. The medical examiner identified the body.

Authorities did not say how he died.

He was wanted in connection with Friday’s slayings of Tracy Ann Ader, 32, and her 8- and 10-year-old sons at their home, where he had been staying as a family friend. Mrs. Ader’s husband was in the hospital at the time with an unrelated illness.

The suspect spent nine months in prison in 2009 after he was convicted of two counts of second-degree trafficking in stolen property. The Aders had befriended him and he had moved in with the family, officials have said.

CALIFORNIA

Challenge is heard to affirmative action ban

SAN FRANCISCO — Backers of affirmative action asked a federal appeals court Monday to overturn California’s 15-year-old ban on considering race in public college admissions, citing a steep drop in black, Latino and Native American students at the state’s elite campuses.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal heard arguments in the latest legal challenge to Proposition 209, the landmark voter initiative that barred racial, ethnic and gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting.

The affirmative action ban has withstood numerous challenges since voters approved it in 1996, but advocates say their campaign to overturn it has been bolstered by recent court decisions, as well as support from Gov. Jerry Brown.

Dozens of minority students backing the plaintiffs filled the courtroom for the hour-long hearing, when the justices questioned whether they should tamper with a 1997 ruling in which the same appellate court upheld Proposition 209.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said affirmative action is needed to increase racial diversity at the University of California’s most prestigious campuses and professional schools.